MARTIN LAIRD LEADS BY ONE

ON US NATIONWIDE TOUR

AFTER BIRDIE-BIRDIE FINISH

Big-hitting former Scottish youths champion Martin Laird from Glasgow birdied the final two holes to maintain his lead in the $500,000 Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the seventh of 32 events on Amercan’s No 2 pro golf circuit, the Nationwide Tour.
Laird, 24, pictured right, who has scored 66, 67 and 70 for a 13-under-par tally of 203,leads by one shot from American Nicholas Thompson at Jennings Mill Country Club, Athens in Georgia.
The secret of the 6f 2in Scot’s success so far has been his driving. He leads the tournament statistics in length off the tee (average 324yd) and fairways hit (39 out of 42 overall and every one in Saturday’s t
Laird turned pro in 2004 after spending four years playing the American college circuit as a student at Colorado State University. He was a team-mate of the current Scottish amateur champion Kevin McAlpine from Alyth).
Playing his second full season on the Nationwide Tour, Martin started the third round with a four-stroke lead and birdied the second, third and fourth holes, but saw his advantage dwindle with bogeys on holes 5, 8, 13 and 16, although he did get a birdie at the 14th.
Trailing Thompson by one stroke after 16 holes, Laird finished with birdies on the final two holes to regain his momentum heading into the final round.
"It was huge to finish with birdies," said Laird. "It makes the round taste a lot better to finish with the lead."
"You can shoot 64 on this golf course, so there are a lot of guys that could still win," Laird, who has had 18 birdies so far in 54 holes, said. "Everyday I've gone to bed at night with the lead and I've gone to bed the next night still in the lead. There's no reason I can't do that again tomorrow."
Welshman Richard Johnson is in joint fifth place on 208 with scores of 67, 72 and 69.

LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
203 Martin Laird (Sco) 66 67 70.
204 Nicholas Thompson (US) 71 66 67.
207 Justin Bolli (US) 74 68 65, Jeremy Anderson (US) 68 73 66.
Other scores:
208 Richard Johnson (Wal) 67 72 69 (jt 5th).
213 Keith Nolan (Ire) 71 72 70 (jt 376th).
215 Gary Christian (Eng) 71 72 71 (jt 47th).